I have a very friendly cat named Sam.  He’s 10.5 lbs and orange-striped.  Most people expect cats to ignore them or to sit quietly on them while they read or watch television or converse.  My cat is rather different.

He always insists on being in the same room I’m in.  Moreover, he insists on sitting on my book, or standing in front of my computer monitor when I’m working.  If I don’t pay enough attention to him (in his terms), he will start clawing at things and pulling books off of bookshelves and then looking at me like, “do you want to play?” 

Most annoying is when it’s time for bed and, upon lying down, the cat comes and puts his wet nose under my chin or in my ear and starts purring loudly.  Then he starts marching in place and batting at my face with his claws.  That means that for the time being, he is banished from the room for the night.  Tough luck for him, eh? 

He also greets all of my guests once they sit down - by jumping on them and exploring their faces, hands and feet.  Then, for the people he really likes, he attacks their legs like a scratching post.  Yes, biting, scratching and kicking.  He usually gets shut in the basement now for guests. 

Today, he recycled some of my houseplants back onto the floor, since they didn’t agree with him.  After cleaning the dirt up, I realized that he had eaten some and they didn’t agree with him.  I’ll clean it up soon.

Now after all this, do I like my cat?  I do!  I do the typical cat discipline with spray bottles and scratching posts.  I actually expected this cat to be more - catlike - stand-offish, etc.  He’s not.  He’s an in-your-face kind of guy.  So, I’m adjusting to life with a cat.  I’m sure we’ll be the best of pals for the next 15 or so years.

Ok, so I saw this and just had to post it!

Yesterday and today I timed how long it took me to go through my whole walk.  Yesterday, I think I did it at the fastest it can be done - especially since I didn’t have to wait for any stoplights to change.  Today, I took it a little slower.  The fastest: an hour.  Today, more like 1:08.  Many times, longer.

The point of the walk isn’t so much speed, though.  It’s prayer and getting to know the neighborhood, along with exercise.  And I get a lot of all of that.  Now, to figure out exactly how far the walk is!

Before I became a Pastor, I never really encountered people in my daily life and work, school, family, etc., for whom dishonesty was truly a way of life.  There were some cases, of course, but they were the exception, rather than the rule. 

Now, I deal with people who lie and manipulate all the time - and find it normal.  What the heck?

It’s been a cool, wet May here in Warren, Ohio.  A few days ago, though, the oversized Rhododendron in my front yard burst forth into bloom!

It is the lover of himself, not the lover of goodness, who thinks himself always superior to others.

- Plutarch, Aratus I.4 (LCL)

Any wordpress users out there that can tell me why my tags went 404 and why my rss feeds aren’t working?

I upgraded to the latest version and forgot to turn off the plugins in the process… did this cause the problem? 

Help!

Today, I took a half a day off to go visit my grandfather and spend some time in Pittsburgh.  Here’s some phone pictures from Point State Park.

Today, my strawberry patch really bloomed!  Check this out!

Now, I have to find a way to keep the birds and other critters from getting to them first!

This weekend I spent considerable time at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in downtown Warren.  This was the first time our church hasn’t had a team in a while.  So I wandered about, talking with folks, walking with folks, enjoying the day.  One of the funniest things I think I saw all weekend was during the “dance competition” event there.  A 7 or 8 year old boy dressed up in a red tie and slacks danced to “sharp-dressed man.”  He kept this serious look on his face the whole time and danced very well.  I don’t think he won, though. 

It was an interesting exercise in being “alone in a crowd.”  It’s a very different type of solitude under those circumstances.  I’ll have to write more about that when I can process it a bit.

This stunt is…

Cool? 
Weird? 
Painful?
Amazing?
All of the above?

 From Fox News

A Kansas City-area teenager who tried to pierce his lip with a needle from a first-aid kit ended up with a staph infection that almost killed him.

Zeke Wheeler of Blue Springs is recovering at Children’s Mercy Hospital after several surgeries on his knees and hips to remove the drug-resistant infection called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Now the 15-year-old high school freshman faces heart surgery, more hospitalization and a long course of antibiotics.

The boy’s father — John Wheeler — said Wednesday that the boy was at home ill with flu and bronchitis on April 8 and tried to pierce his lower lip.  (more)

I feel sorry for this kid, really.  That was a dumb thing to do.  He’s getting consequences for this that most kids don’t get.  Clearly, we should pray for his healing.  If you really want a lip piercing, don’t do it yourself!  Get it done by professionals!  Better yet, stick with the ears!

It’s kind of depressing when EVERY SINGLE DAY in the 7-day forecast on the evening news calls for rain.

Today I took my usual walk, with the threat of rain all the way.  It began to rain in earnest as I turned back up my street for the home stretch.  Most people I usually see on my walk thought I was a bit nuts to be out in that kind of weather - but rain doesn’t bother me, really.  As long as it’s warm enough, there’s no big deal there.  I mean, what’s the big deal about getting wet, as long as you are warm enough?  At least rain doesn’t get stinky like sweat does!

Check out this post from tallgrassworship: http://tallgrassworship.blogspot.com/2008/05/is-your-lifestyle-informed-by-your.html